The Father of the Border Patrol
Frank Walton Berkshire
This page is a near duplicate of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's page - The Father of the Border Patrol. It has been repeated here in the event that CBP removes the page so that the information is not lost.
Frank Walton Berkshire (1870-1934)
Frank W. Berkshire was born in Petersburg, Kentucky on October 22, 1870. In 1896, he was hired as a Chinese inspector with the Immigration Service. By 1901, he was assigned to Chicago, Illinois. In 1903, Berkshire transferred to Brooklyn, New York, still as a Chinese Inspector. By 1911, Berkshire had returned to El Paso with the title of Supervising Inspector. By 1918, Berkshire had become the Supervising Inspector of the Mexican Border District, what is now referred to as the Southwest Border. It was in this role that Berkshire would develop and refine a plan to address the growing problem of aliens circumventing the ports-of-entry and illegally entering the United States.
As early as February 1918, Berkshire had informed the Commissioner-General of the Bureau of Immigration of the need to form a unit with the intent of preventing violations of "…Customs, Immigration, Public Health and other Federal Statutes…" by patrolling the border. Berkshire was familiar with the mounted inspectors (also called mounted guard and mounted watchmen) and the Chinese inspectors. In addition, there was an immigration patrol of which Berkshire thought highly. His solution to control the border was not a suggestion to evolve or increase the size of any of those forces, but instead to create something entirely new, a border patrol.
On April 29, 1918, after numerous discussions with the Commissioner-General, Berkshire submitted a "Proposal to Establish an Immigration Service on the Land Boundaries." This first proposal recommended that a force of 1,608 men would be necessary to patrol the border. The plan suggested patrolmen should be paid between $900 to $1,500 per year dependent upon whether the government provided a horse and equipment. As the Supervising Inspector of the Mexican Border, his plan did not include staffing estimates for the Northern Border. In addition, no records have been located to indicate a similar Supervising Inspector existed for the Canadian Border.
Berkshire's proposal sparked a series of meetings in Washington, DC that included representatives from the Departments of Justice, State, War, Treasury, Navy, and Labor (see this document). The proposal was unanimously agreed upon and declared the most practicable that had been suggested. Interestingly, the Commissioner-General stated that the Bureau of Immigration had submitted a very similar plan to the Department of Labor in 1914 and 1915, which the Department had approved. However, the author of the plan was never identified, nor records of the plan located in the National Archives.
On June 7, 1918, Berkshire submitted his first detailed plan to implement the "proposed Border Patrol." It is in this document that the "Border Patrol" was presented as a proper noun, with capital letters. Berkshire's proposal included numerous patrol inspector ranks, guards, cooks, clerks and stablemen. The plan also included equipment such as automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, wagons, and horses. The plan specified the locations and numbers for all personnel and equipment. The total came to 1,950 employees at a cost of $4 million, including equipment.
On October 6, 1918, the Commissioner-General further defined the need to create a patrol force on the Canadian and Mexican Borders to enforce the Passport-Permit Regulations, Immigration and Chinese Exclusion Laws, and to "aid in the enforcement of other distinctly wartime measures." (see this document)
On November 3, 1918, in response to the Commissioner-General's directive to modify the earlier plan to the "least possible number of men," Berkshire submitted another proposal to create a Border Patrol of only 264 men. To save additional money, Berkshire's plan recommended absorbing the 71 mounted watchmen employed or authorized into the Border Patrol so that only 193 new personnel would need to be hired. His plan also specified where to station inspectors, by city, on the Southern Border. The plan was reduced from the original $4 million to a mere $700,000. (see this document) The Commissioner-General agreed with the plan and submitted it to the Secretary of Labor on November 8, 1918. The Commissioner-General's memorandum recommended that $500,000 budgeted to enforce the Passport Permit Regulations be used to fund the Border Patrol. (See this document)
On November 12, 1918, Acting Secretary John W. Abercrombie approved the plan and authorized the creation of the Border Patrol within the Bureau of Immigration. (See the second page of this document) However, as history shows, the Border Patrol was neither created nor funded in 1918, even with the Acting Secretary's approval.
By 1920, there were few Chinese inspectors and mounted watchmen, and the immigration patrol had been disbanded, yet Berkshire still saw a need for more to be done to address people surreptitiously entering the United States. In an effort to define the Immigration Service's responsibility and to frame the problem, Berkshire explained that nearly every person arrested near the border for violating an agricultural, customs, health or prohibition law, had also violated an immigration law. Berkshire expressed concern another Federal agency would overshadow the Immigration Service and would inevitably take the lead for border enforcement. (See this document)
From 1920 to 1922, a committee comprised of representatives from the Public Health Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Customs Service, the Prohibition Enforcement Service, the Federal Horticultural Board, and the Immigration Service held meetings about how best to approach enforcement near the border. (see this document) The Commissioner-General of the Bureau of Immigration was commonly present at these meetings and Berkshire's Border Patrol concept formed the agency's viewpoint. (see this document) By October 1922, the committee recommended the formation of a border patrol. (see this document)
On May 28, 1924, Congress passed an appropriations bill (Public Law 68-153, see page 240) providing funding to increase the "land-border patrol" functions the Bureau of Immigration had been conducting, in one manner or another, for years. Using this funding, the vision of Frank W. Berkshire was realized when the Commissioner-General ordered the hiring of patrol inspectors, and the Immigration Border Patrol was born.
As early as February 1918, Berkshire had informed the Commissioner-General of the Bureau of Immigration of the need to form a unit with the intent of preventing violations of "…Customs, Immigration, Public Health and other Federal Statutes…" by patrolling the border. Berkshire was familiar with the mounted inspectors (also called mounted guard and mounted watchmen) and the Chinese inspectors. In addition, there was an immigration patrol of which Berkshire thought highly. His solution to control the border was not a suggestion to evolve or increase the size of any of those forces, but instead to create something entirely new, a border patrol.
On April 29, 1918, after numerous discussions with the Commissioner-General, Berkshire submitted a "Proposal to Establish an Immigration Service on the Land Boundaries." This first proposal recommended that a force of 1,608 men would be necessary to patrol the border. The plan suggested patrolmen should be paid between $900 to $1,500 per year dependent upon whether the government provided a horse and equipment. As the Supervising Inspector of the Mexican Border, his plan did not include staffing estimates for the Northern Border. In addition, no records have been located to indicate a similar Supervising Inspector existed for the Canadian Border.
Berkshire's proposal sparked a series of meetings in Washington, DC that included representatives from the Departments of Justice, State, War, Treasury, Navy, and Labor (see this document). The proposal was unanimously agreed upon and declared the most practicable that had been suggested. Interestingly, the Commissioner-General stated that the Bureau of Immigration had submitted a very similar plan to the Department of Labor in 1914 and 1915, which the Department had approved. However, the author of the plan was never identified, nor records of the plan located in the National Archives.
On June 7, 1918, Berkshire submitted his first detailed plan to implement the "proposed Border Patrol." It is in this document that the "Border Patrol" was presented as a proper noun, with capital letters. Berkshire's proposal included numerous patrol inspector ranks, guards, cooks, clerks and stablemen. The plan also included equipment such as automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, wagons, and horses. The plan specified the locations and numbers for all personnel and equipment. The total came to 1,950 employees at a cost of $4 million, including equipment.
On October 6, 1918, the Commissioner-General further defined the need to create a patrol force on the Canadian and Mexican Borders to enforce the Passport-Permit Regulations, Immigration and Chinese Exclusion Laws, and to "aid in the enforcement of other distinctly wartime measures." (see this document)
On November 3, 1918, in response to the Commissioner-General's directive to modify the earlier plan to the "least possible number of men," Berkshire submitted another proposal to create a Border Patrol of only 264 men. To save additional money, Berkshire's plan recommended absorbing the 71 mounted watchmen employed or authorized into the Border Patrol so that only 193 new personnel would need to be hired. His plan also specified where to station inspectors, by city, on the Southern Border. The plan was reduced from the original $4 million to a mere $700,000. (see this document) The Commissioner-General agreed with the plan and submitted it to the Secretary of Labor on November 8, 1918. The Commissioner-General's memorandum recommended that $500,000 budgeted to enforce the Passport Permit Regulations be used to fund the Border Patrol. (See this document)
On November 12, 1918, Acting Secretary John W. Abercrombie approved the plan and authorized the creation of the Border Patrol within the Bureau of Immigration. (See the second page of this document) However, as history shows, the Border Patrol was neither created nor funded in 1918, even with the Acting Secretary's approval.
By 1920, there were few Chinese inspectors and mounted watchmen, and the immigration patrol had been disbanded, yet Berkshire still saw a need for more to be done to address people surreptitiously entering the United States. In an effort to define the Immigration Service's responsibility and to frame the problem, Berkshire explained that nearly every person arrested near the border for violating an agricultural, customs, health or prohibition law, had also violated an immigration law. Berkshire expressed concern another Federal agency would overshadow the Immigration Service and would inevitably take the lead for border enforcement. (See this document)
From 1920 to 1922, a committee comprised of representatives from the Public Health Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Customs Service, the Prohibition Enforcement Service, the Federal Horticultural Board, and the Immigration Service held meetings about how best to approach enforcement near the border. (see this document) The Commissioner-General of the Bureau of Immigration was commonly present at these meetings and Berkshire's Border Patrol concept formed the agency's viewpoint. (see this document) By October 1922, the committee recommended the formation of a border patrol. (see this document)
On May 28, 1924, Congress passed an appropriations bill (Public Law 68-153, see page 240) providing funding to increase the "land-border patrol" functions the Bureau of Immigration had been conducting, in one manner or another, for years. Using this funding, the vision of Frank W. Berkshire was realized when the Commissioner-General ordered the hiring of patrol inspectors, and the Immigration Border Patrol was born.
